Different Worlds
by donnapie
Summary: AU-April is the sole heiress of the Kepner-Kettering empire and Jackson is a widower left with a sickly son who is trying hard to make ends meet.Jilted at the altar by the love of her life and pressured by her mother's expectations, April engages Jackson's service to act as her boyfriend in a contract relationship. But what if the person she longs for comes back?
1. Authors Note - Character Summary

**AUTHORS NOTE:**

_If you have been following my fanfiction page, I'm sure that by now you guys would know how obsessed I am with Japril._

_However, I have just recently started watching Scandal (yes, I'm a late bloomer so don't judge me) and I'm in deep, mad, head over heels love for the perfection that otherwise goes by the name of Scott Foley._

_This fanfiction is a result of that._

_I have long been wanting to write an AU FF for Japril wherein their situations are reversed and she's like this Park Avenue, Gossip Girl-esque, bitchy outside, soft inside heiress type of character while Jackson is the down on his luck poor boy with a good heart._

_I have thought of doing a crossover with Scott's character from Scandal but since this is an AU and he' d really not be playing a murderous undercover CIA agent but rather as the third leg of an angsty love triangle, I decided to just feature him here as his character from Grey's Anatomy without the sickness._

_I really don't know how often I can update._

_It might take a while because to be honest, one shots are more my cup of tea._

_However, I really am excited about the possibilities of this story._

_I hope you'd be looking forward to it as much as I am._

_Your reviews are much appreciated._

_It would help me decide if I should continue or not._

* * *

**SYNOPSIS:**

They say that true love comes when you least expect it.

When you think everything is perfect and life couldn't be better, then it hits you.

And your life would never be the same.

Jackson Avery and April Kepner are as different as night and day.

Their worlds are so far apart and their personalities so dissimilar that it would have been impossible for them to meet, but then destiny decided to play its part.

In a most unexpected time and in a most unexpected place, they would learn to rely on each other in a most unexpected way.

In a rebellious act towards her controlling mother and salvaging her pride in order to prove to the man she loves that she is over him, April and Jackson would be forced to live together in a contract relationship.

One that April was confident would be all business.

Just another contract that April drew and which she expects Jackson to fill.

However, as they slowly get to know each other, feelings grow, emotions get involved and what they previously could never thought happen, would.

But what if it was their world that was tearing them apart?

And what if Jackson cannot give what it is that April really wants?

Would love be worth fighting for or would the saying really hold that sometimes – love really just ain't enough?

* * *

**CHARACTER SUMMARIES:**

**JACKSON AVERY**

Widowed at 30, a temp worker who's barely making ends meet and raising his sickly son by himself, Jackson should have hated the world but instead he looks at it with optimism and a hopeful disposition.

Though life has dealt him with some hard blows and even if sometimes everyday was a struggle, Jackson still lives his life simply but contentedly armed only with his righteousness, kindness and sense of compassion.

To Jackson, the world that April lives in is foreign.

An unknown realm of reality that he has never ever set foot on until their paths crossed by accident.

He knew that she is someone that he shouldn't fall for.

She was unreachable, unattainable and a woman that's not meant for a man who's as hard up as he was but from the first moment he laid eyes on her, he was intrigued by her.

Like a moth to a flame, he was drawn to the vulnerability in her eyes which she hides behind the cold façade that she tries to project to the world and by the sadness in her smile.

But would that be enough reason to fight for his love?

Would feelings and emotions suffice when he knows that he cannot offer her more than that?

**APRIL KEPNER**

Fiercely independent, high maintenance, aloof and every inch the socialite, April was born to a life of luxury and opulence being the sole heiress of the Kepner – Kettering Empire.

Born with the proverbial silver spoon in her mouth and to a medical family that consists mostly of over achievers, to the world April may appear to have everything but deep inside she is constantly fighting herself to be worthy of her mother's love and the deep and painful scar that she carries from being jilted at the altar five years ago by the only man she's ever loved.

Spurred by hurt and fueled by anger, April begins to believe that love is a make believe feeling that is frivolous.

That emotions are fleeting and that relationships are fitted only for immature, foolish, childish people.

And she is not one of them.

Not anymore.

So what does she do about Jackson?

The man who seems to be Mr. Wrong in every which way but who makes her feel so right whenever he's around?

He is everything she wants to run away from.

Everything that she wasn't and which the circle she lives in looks down on and for that alone, she knows that they don't stand a fighting chance.

Especially now that her Mr. Right has come back and he is shaking her heart.

Past or Present.

Right or Wrong.

Heart over Mind.

April has to choose, so will she choose right this time around?

**HENRY BURTON**

The Kepners and The Burtons.

Two families that have dominated the industry of Science for years and along with the success of these empires, came the deep friendship between it's heir and it's heiress, Henry and April.

Raised in a life fit for kings and every inch the progeny of old money, Henry gravitated towards April not just because of the partnership of their families in business but also because she had always been the only one who truly understands him because of the similarities in their background and social status.

Inseparable since childhood and armed with the deep belief that they are each other's perfect match, April and Henry's relationship flourished and turned into love with the both of them becoming the toast of their circle for being the golden, perfect couple.

But then Henry thought if it was all that there was to his life?

His love for April was great but so is his desire to fulfill his own dreams and ambitions.

After all, love can wait.

But can it?

What happens when Henry achieves his plans but comes back to find out that April's heart may not be the same.

Can regret make him fight for her love the only way he knows how?

**LEXIE GREY**

Born as an illegitimate child to a poor father and an even poorer mother, Lexie has spent all her life giving way.

In childhood, she gave way to her unknown sister the time of her father during countless Birthdays and Christmases.

In high school, she gave way to her mother's wish to not continue on to college even if her heart was set on medicine.

Even in matters of the heart it was the same story.

She gave way to her best friend Stephanie for Jackson even if she has loved him all her life.

After Stephanie died, Lexie thought that her days of waiting are over.

She loved Jackson's son Jaden like her own, harboring a secret hope that someday Jackson would notice and she'd finally have her turn.

But then, April came into the picture.

And once again, she was left in the wings.

And Lexie is tired.

Tired of being second best, of playing second fiddle of never having what she wants.

It's time for her to put herself first.

Now, she's ready to give it all she's got.


	2. Prologue

Today was supposed to be an ordinary day.

Like clockwork, April woke up at 6.

By 630 she was in yoga class.

She had breakfast at 730 and by 9AM just like always, she was already walking the corridors leading towards her private office at Kepner-Kettering Medical Hospital.

However, the moment that she opened the door to her room and saw her mother waiting for her behind her desk, April was immediately overwhelmed by a strong sense of trepidation.

A cold, instinctive feeling that told her to brace herself for whatever bad news Karen Kepner is bringing today because after all, her mother does not just normally drop in unannounced for a trivial chat or for a friendly mother daughter visit whenever she feels like it.

"April"

Karen said in her perfectly clipped, elegant voice as she air kissed her daughters left and then her right cheek.

There was a small, tepid smile playing around the corner of her lips and if only April is just not scared shitless by her presence, she would have probably laughed out loud at her mother's attempt to appear warm and friendly because warm and friendly are definitely the last two adjectives that you'd ever associate her with.

Haughty, yes.

Cold, calculating mogul second.

Bitchy?

Ummm… most of the time.

However, warm and friendly?

Warm and friendly definitely her mother wasn't.

"Mother"

April gave her a small smile indifferently as she gathered her wits about her and strode inside the room with a confidence that was far from what she's really feeling.

She had barely taken a step inside her office but already, she can feel her mother's eyes measuring her that very same moment.

Karen's gaze swept in her appearance from head to toe.

She can feel her eyes crawling all over her and even if April took such great measure to appear glamorous and business like under her doctors coat in her Black Balenciaga shift dress, Louboutin pumps, pearls and upswept hairdo, once again, her mother had managed to make her feel small and insignificant just by the way that she rolled her eyes in exasperation once she's done surveying her.

"Are you sure that those shoes are appropriate for somebody who's supposed to be the Chairman of the Board for this hospital?"

She said disdainfully.

April felt her hand clench against the handle of the olive green Hermes Birkin bag that she was carrying but still, she kept silent.

"Really, April! It's so last season. You can have anything in any designer store you desire and yet you chose to get _THAT_?"

"I'm sorry, mother"

She mumbled under her breath when she barely even know what she should be apologizing for.

April kept her eyes downcast.

Her head bowed as she bites her tongue lest she forgets her place and tell her what she really thinks of her which can be summed up to clichéd caricature of a haughty, arrogant, bitchy snob.

Goddamit.

April knows that she is a woman all of 31 but why is it that her mother always had this knack of making her feel like she was still seven?

Like she will always be that child whom she never wanted but had against her will.

That daughter whom no matter how beautiful she looks or how accomplished she gets, would never, ever measure up to her expectations in any which way.

With a dismissive sweep of her hands, Karen sat on the chair in front of her without pausing for breath.

She crossed her legs regally and arranged her skirt while brushing off an imaginary lint off her very expensive designer suit, all while motioning with her finger for her secretary to come closer as she issued out yet another command.

"After this, please get four boxes of the new Blahniks for April and send it to her apartment."

Uh-huh.

All that without asking once again what she thinks or what is her opinion on the whole matter.

As if that was not enough, Karen tilted her head to the side as she looked at April as if there was something that she had forgotten.

"And while you're at it, set her up for a haircut with my stylist will you? That hair on her?"

Karen shuddered exaggeratedly.

"Ugh… Just horrible."

And in one fell swoop, April knows that what started out to be an ordinary, peaceful day for her could not be anymore rectified and was now ruined.

Just like that, her mother had once again successfully managed to shred her confidence to pieces and it was so ironic because she takes no bull from anyone but when it comes to the person who gave life to her, she can barely say a word without feeling as if she was being a bad daughter.

"Is that all you came here for Mother? To check on my shoes and my hair and to let me know that I might be on Fashion Police the very next day? "

Karen looked at her daughter calculatedly.

"Don't be smart with me. You know that I would not have taken time off from my busy schedule if I didn't have anything important to say".

She paused for awhile as if making sure that what she'd say would sink in on her daughter for good measure.

She watches April's reaction with a deliberate stare and even before she said the words, April knew that she'd better brace herself because whatever it is that she came here for, she knew that it can not be anything that would mean good news.

"Henry's back."

She looks at her.

"For good. He came to see me and he told me he's been sending you messages but he didn't know you changed your number."

April took a sharp intake of breath.

Her fingers stilling from flipping through a proposal for a new medical research which she was just looking at mindlessly moments before when she heard her mother say _HIS_ name and then the world started spinning crazily around her.

There it is.

The bomb that her mother came here to deliver.

She was expecting something bad but at the same time she was not expecting it to be _THIS_ bad.

April felt as if someone just threw a bucket of cold water over her.

Like someone had decided to play a cruel prank on her and resurrected her worst nightmare and she almost wanted to pinch herself to see if this was all a dream so that she can laugh and tell herself that she was being stupid because 5 years is enough time for her to get over him and her broken heart.

April lifted her eyes to meet her mothers.

Rather than seeing sympathy there and tenderness over the fact that the man who embarrassed her daughter and jilted her at the altar had now just made a come back, what she saw instead was the determined expression of a woman who wanted something from her and who would not stop at any cost until she gets what she wants.

"You will see him April. I already told him. He will be your escort during next weeks Kepner-Kettering award and you will talk it over and reconcile because I need to have a large share on that new pharmaceutical company which his family invested on."

"Mother."

April whispered under her breath.

"I already talked to his father and lest that debacle from five years ago be repeated, we agreed on a very short engagement. We'd probably just announce to the press how you have realized that—-"

"Mom…"

"—- after all this time you still love each other and then after that we'd announce the new business that—-"

"MOTHER!"

April slammed her fist angrily against the table.

Her mother jumped in surprise but quickly schooled her features to show nonchalance at her sudden outburst while April let the anger that she's been holding in for quite some time burst forth in a very emotional explosion.

"HOW COULD YOU,? I would do no such thing! You know what he did to me! It took me years to get over him! YEARS! And he's scarred me for life that I do not even think I can even believe in love ag—-"

April's voice trailed off at her mothers sudden laughter.

There was a confused expression on her face as her mother suddenly stood up and patted her cheek tenderly, all while looking at her with gentle bemusement.

"There you go again, daughter. How many times do I have to tell you that _LOVE_ has no place in our world?"

Her mother spat out the words as if it was something ridiculous or dirty.

"You are born to take over the reins of our businesses, April. To make it flourish and let it grow and Henry is the only match for you since he can help you attain all of these goals and he fits all of the qualifications of a man that's right for you."

Karen took her hand away from her daughters face and gave a shrug as if she was telling her that everything was just so simple.

"After all, the man is truly sorry. He must have a perfect explanation for doing what he did. You've had five years to harbor this petty grudge that you had against him April and it's high time that you two get your act together and realize that there's nobody else who is as perfect for each other as the two of you are."

Karen shook her head in mock sympathy and April knew that her mother was patronizing her.

"Besides, isn't that exactly what you told me all those years ago when you were head over heels for Henry? That you _LOVE_ him? So, what's stopping you from loving him all over again?"

She shrugged indifferently and April didn't know if she would start to laugh or cry or probably both as a thousand different emotions raced through her.

"HE LIED TO ME! He embarrassed me! He told me that he'd love me forever and I believed him but he turned me into a laughing stock and he left me! WITHOUT AN EXPLANATION! Aren't you even concerned? Don't you even care?"

April saw her mothers eyes widen in surprise and she knew it was not because of her words but because for the first time in her life, she stood her ground and answered back to her.

But, ENOUGH.

This is the last straw and she is through letting her run her life.

"I'm done MOTHER. DONE. I am through following everything you say. I will now live my life the way I want to live it and nothing you say or do is going to stop me".

Karen's eyes narrowed.

April's heart racing half in fear and half in a rush of adrenaline as she anticipated her mothers next words because she knew that Karen does not back down from a fight.

"Why are you so affected April? If you're truly over Henry shouldn't you be more calm about this?"

April felt her mouth open and close as she has no answer to that.

Satisfied that she has hit her where it hurts most and that she has won this round, Karen turned around to flip through the proposal that April was just looking at awhile ago casually like they were just talking about the weather and not something that would greatly change the course of her daughter's life.

"I have reserved a place for you both at the presidential table because I think it's better to have the press all over you two in one go for it to be over and done with. My stylist will be coming over your house on Saturday at 5 to fix you up and Henry will meet you at the hotel at 730. Now, about that new medical equipment that we're importing from Germany…"

Gritting her teeth in anger, April turned on her heel and walked straight out of her office leaving her mother shouting her name angrily behind her back.

She was so fueled by anger that she barely even gave a second thought to where she was going.

However, her feet seemed to have a mind of it's own as it led her towards the elevator and then the basement and before she knew it she was standing right in front of her parked Maserati.

Her Maserati that is now being blocked by a dented and poor looking motorcycle that she can't help but give a humorless laugh at how this day has been just so fucking miserable that even at this moment she still can't even get a fucking break.

"SHIT!"

She shouted as she kicked at the motorcycles wheel but she only managed to hurt herself and at that moment the tears that she was holding back came rushing out in a flood.

"SHIT! SHIT! SHIT!"

She shouted out as she stomped her foot in frustration but her words were barely discernible as she swallowed back great big sobs.

"Are you okay?"

She heard his gentle voice and felt his light touch on her shoulder even before she wiped her tears and turned around.

She almost gasped out loud when she saw his face.

If it was any other ordinary day, April would have marveled at how ridiculously good looking the man before her was with his amazing sea green eyes, brown skin and his less than normal eyelashes that seem to go on for miles.

However, today was not one of those days.

Today is a day when she was filled with anger and frustration and hate and it was unfortunate that he came at just that time.

"I'm really sorry Miss."

He rubbed the back of his neck in embarrassment while smiling a smile that practically lights up his face.

"I was just supposed to only be a minute to deliver a parcel and the guard told me I can park here and I didn't…"

He was smiling at her apologetically but April only gazed at him coldly.

Her features hard and disdainful as she took in his tattered jeans and thin white shirt and his sneakers that seemed to have seen better days.

"Is this your bike?"

His smile faltered as he took in her expression.

The icy contempt in her eyes unmistakable that the stranger took an instinctive step back as if to get away from the harshness of her gaze.

"Y—yes and again I apo—-"

"Delivery should be done in the delivery areas. This is a VIP only zone and obviously, you're someone _NOT_ important".

She swept her gaze contemptuously over him and he saw the hurt expression cloud his eyes only for a moment before he was smiling at her in embarrassment again.

"I'm sorry —- I—- Ummm—- Sorry—-"

"Are you dumb? Are those the only words that you know how to say? What the hell are you even being sorry for?"

April knows that she was being nasty but she wanted to lash out to the world that even if she wanted to stop herself at that moment she didn't know how.

Gorgeous or not, the more she hears this guy the more she hates him.

He reminds her so much of herself a few moments ago when she was being apologetic and being cowed once again by her mother and it irks her.

The stranger stood in front of her.

His jaw hard. His hands clenched but he didn't answer her back nor did he say a word.

April felt a small rush of guilt.

A guilt that was suddenly overshadowed by the sudden scary realization that maybe she is more like her mother than she ever thought she was.

Wanting to shake those thoughts out of her head but helpless to do so, April once again felt an overwhelming sense of frustration.

"Move!"

She nudged the stranger as she walked past him to open the door to her car and she felt his shoulder snap a little but she didn't look back as she took a seat behind the wheel.

But still, he remained unmoving.

His eyes just looking at her through her windshield that if only she was not riding high on her anger, April would probably be scared that he's really some kind of stalker.

She returned his stare for only a moment before she pressed loudly on her car horn.

"WHAT?"

She mouthed at him as he just stood there looking at her like a dummy.

April rolled her eyes in frustration before waving her hand wildy as she gestured for him to give way and move his bike away.

And that was the only time he moved.

As he drew closer, April caught a glimpse of the look in his eyes and she could almost swear that he was looking at her with sympathy rather than anger and it almost took her breath away.

But she only hesitated for a moment before pressing her foot to her cars pedal.

_HARD._

She zoomed past him leaving him in a cloud of smoke as her tires screeched against the hard cement of the parking garage.

She left in such a hurry and in such a huff that she was unaware that Jackson followed her with his gaze as she pulled out of her slot and until her car disappeared from sight.

As April drove away from him, Jackson can't help but think that she was the most glamorous woman he's ever met but also the rudest person that he's ever encountered in his entire life.

Somehow he feels as if he should send someone a prayer of thanks that she is probably the kind of person that he'd never get the chance to see or meet again in whatever case or circumstance.

He knows that he should be relieved but there's a feeling in his chest that was unexplainable.

A brief flash of longing as if he has lost something valuable the moment she disappeared from his sight that he just can't understand.

It was just nerves.

He thought.

Just nerves.

And as Jackson put on his helmet and revved his motorbike to drive away, somebody should have told him not to jump to conclusions too easily because at that moment- that particular instance- fate has decided to step in into his life and it will change everything he knows of and believe in for the rest of his days.


	3. Chapter 1 - Jump then Fall

**APRIL**

Pushover.

I hated the word.

Hated it with a passion.

I remember the number of times that I used the word with condescension whenever I talk of a friend who easily gets swayed by a cheating boyfriends excuses or the disdain that I have for an intern that complains to me about being swamped with work when it probably stems from the fact that he got conned to take on the load of another co-intern.

Pushover.

What an apt description to describe someone who's eager to please, spineless and just does whatever someone tells them.

A word that perfectly describes what I was today as I sit quietly at the back of the car that my mother has sent for me.

I remember my confident words of a week ago.

The way that I said that I'd now do whatever I wanted and yet here I am doing my mothers bidding even if it was totally against my wishes.

Yeah, right.

I hate pushovers because I am forever one myself when it comes to my mother.

I can't help but give a sardonic little smile as I think how my words seemed to be all for naught as my mother once again gained the upper hand by withholding the funding for my new trauma center unless i show up tonight and just like always I just accepted defeat and I let her.

I felt a frisson of self loathing and derision overcome myself as I looked at my reflection from the car's rearview mirror.

I was all perfectly decked out in an emerald green silk gown that belonged on the pages of Vogue and my make up was flawless.

I looked radiant and pretty and glowing and if only my stomach was not churning and my heart was not nervously pounding, one would think I was just going to attend an event that others could only dream of being invited to.

A party where I'd rub elbows with the who's who of the medical world.

A gathering where I'd make small talk with celebrities and models and socialites who are the current toast of the town.

An event where I'd fake a laugh or a smile even if the truth remains that being in that affair was the farthest thing from my mind.

After all, how can I think of anything else when I know that somewhere in that huge ballroom, he was there.

_Henry Burton._

Rather than not thinking of his name for the past five years, it was more of a conscious effort on my part not to do so.

I have relegated his name and his face and his memories to the back of my mind and sometimes there are even times when I think to myself if he had ever really existed or if the happiness I felt at the time when I was with him was not made up just so we can keep up appearances that we were indeed the happy, flawless, golden couple.

But there was no denying it.

He indeed made me happy and the only time that I ever really felt that I _REALLY_ mattered in all of my whole pathetic poor little rich girl life was during the time that I was with him.

I can still remember the time when I was 12 and I first met Henry.

I recall my mother resting her hand on my shoulder and announcing "that Henry's parents were very important friends".

All I can remember at that time was how I thought of how impressive his parents must be for my mother to even think that they are as important as her when she has this notion that everybody else compared to her would always just be second best.

However, more than that, I was very, very curious about the mystery surrounding this young boy of 13 who looked so somber and barely spoke a word as he stood right before me.

We spent the rest of the afternoon seated together by the swings in our enormous garden.

Him, looking straight ahead and barely throwing me a second glance while I do the exact opposite as I give him curious looks when I thought he was not looking from under my lashes.

The minutes ticked by in utter silence.

I was too shy to really talk to him but I summoned all of my courage to do so as I cleared my throat and broached the first question.

"So, what school do you go to?"

He moved his head to look at me.

His face breaking out into an embarrassed little smile before he looked down again and scuffed his toe against the ground making the swing move a little as he answered my question.

"I- I really don't know yet. I grew up in London and we just came back here."

He told me in the most to die for British accent.

I felt a pleasant tingle run through me.

At that age, I was enamored of Pride and Prejudice and hearing him speak made me imagine myself as an All American version of Elizabeth Bennett and he, the dashing Fitzwilliam Darcy.

'Oh, ummm- I love London."

I said whimsically in my dreamiest voice but it was as if I have told him that I am the Queen herself, because for the first time ever since I met him, his face breaks out into a giant smile as he breathed a sigh of relief and he started babbling a mile a minute.

He reported how they just arrived back in the States about three weeks ago and how his father wanted to move their corporate headquarters from the UK to New York. He talked about how difficult it was adjusting to a culture that is supposed to be his heritage but how frustrating it is that it is totally unfamiliar. He told me about his difficulties in making friends and how he doesn't know if it was because his accent was so thick or because they are intimidated because he's boarding school raised and always surrounded by an army of bodyguards.

As he speaks, I can't help but feel an overwhelming sense of joy at finally finding a kindred spirit who seems to understand how it is to be different.

A person who is living a life just like mine.

Sheltered.

Ostentatious.

Privileged.

One which is far beyond that of what was really considered as being everyday, ordinary or normal just like the lives that are common for the rest.

From that day on we were inseparable.

We went to the same elite prep school where he became wildly popular with the girls and where his name was always written inside hearts on bathroom stalls (a fact that I teased him mercilessly for until the day we parted ways) and afterwards, we both went to Harvard where he lost his english accent to an all american one and where he still remained a heart throb with the girls but where ironically, he also seemed to disapprove of almost every boy whom I date.

We spent almost every waking hour together.

We studied together, played together, went to boring social functions with our parents together.

I don't know when it happened but as we grew older there was just a point in my life when I stopped looking at him as Henry my best bud and when I started seeing him as just Henry.

_A man._

Funny how I can't pinpoint the exact moment when it happened and yet in my heart I also remembered when I knew that something between us has changed.

It was the time when he walked in on me in my apartment on a very ordinary Sunday and as I looked at him, I just suddenly had an epiphany that I want him more than a friend and that all along I knew that he was someone special.

How could I have not seen before what the other girls see?

He was dressed down in khakis and a pullover sweater, his normal weekend attire whenever he comes to see me and yet I was breathless when I looked at him.

For the first time ever, it sank in on me how gorgeous he really looked and how he totally appeared as if he belonged in the pages of a glossy.

Suddenly, I was hit by a sense of melancholy as I recalled the number of years that we've spent together and how much I know him and how well he knows me.

I know that he secretly loves the opera and that he cries at Bridges of Madison County. He knows that I am a bad drunk and that I need to be carried (which he's done a number of times) with just one bottle of beer. He's seen me through every bad break up and I've seen him at his cheesiest when he's trying to pick up a girl.

And at that moment I knew that things would never be the same and I was ecstatic to know that he also feels the same when he confessed to me.

To the delight of our parents, Henry and I became a couple and things were perfect.

_HE WAS PERFECT_.

So perfect in fact, that he was the only person whom I can share my loneliness and deepest insecurities with without fear of being judged or worse being called a loony.

With him, I never have to explain myself or feel shallow when I feel sadness envelope me when normally, other people would dismiss it and tell me "How can you be lonely, when you have everything and are so lucky?"

He knows me.

He can relate with me.

We were two peas in a pod and in a world where people regard us as being enviably fortunate, he was the only one who understood how money does not always necessarily equate to happiness or satisfaction because at the end of it all, it was love that we desire but which we've never truly gotten.

The kind of love that we were deprived of by our parents but which we irrevocably found in each other.

And for the first time in my life I was happy.

Truly happy.

The kind that comes from the core and that tells me that no matter what happens, everything would still be perfect because I have him.

_Forever._

Or so I thought.

Until the day of our wedding and things took a turn for the worse.

He didn't show up and everything then just fell apart.

There, amidst the pitying looks of our guests and the barely concealed whispers of people who were supposed to be friends, I told myself that I would never wish for love ever again because it seems like of it, I would never ever be worthy.

"Miss Kepner? We've reached the hotel".

The voice of my driver breaks through my muddled thoughts.

I took a deep steadying breath as I grabbed my purse but still, I remained seated at the back of the car without making a move.

"Are you ready, Miss?"

He asked me with concern.

I know my driver was asking me if something was bothering me and If I was prepared to get down from the car but all I could think about was Henry and my mother and I gave a nervous little laugh because no way in hell was I anywhere near ready.

Far from it.

But despite that, I still gave him a little nod as I closed my eyes and whispered softly

"Yes, I am ready".

And as he opened the door and I got out, I took a deep breath and squared my shoulders to prepare for battle.

A war that I was not prepared for but had to win, no matter the cost, no matter if it kills me

**JACKSON**

When life gives you lemons, make lemonades.

It was an adage that Jackson Avery greatly believes in and which he repeats to himself whenever times are hard or whenever he feels depressed.

Times that he's had enough of that could last him a lifetime and yet rather than being bitter and grieving over his bad stroke of luck, Jackson remains positive and upbeat that sooner or later, things would turn around and that in time everything will be alright.

Not that it was always easy to keep this kind of optimism especially when life seemed to only deal him with hard blows most of the time.

He can still clearly remember the feeling of isolation that he felt being raised in a foster home with a family that was kind to him at best but who have never really treated him like he was their own.

He can so vividly envision the hard work and effort that he's put in to support himself through high school and to save up for college but it all went to waste because he got his then girlfriend pregnant.

He can distinctly recall the moment when his son was born and how his happiness felt short lived because the doctor told him that he's got a congenital heart disease which can ail him for a lifetime.

Or that moment when his wife told him that she found a lump in her left breast and how her sudden death has left him at a loss as he carried their six month old son and watched her being buried on the ground.

He can recall all of these moments and yet he chose not to dwell on it.

Rather, he chose to remember how he's still got so much to be thankful for.

Like the fact that he's alive and that he has his son - the only source of his happiness and joy even if most of his worries also stem from him sometimes.

Sighing tiredly, Jackson pushed open the door of his cramped, tired looking apartment and was greeted by the sight of Lexie bent over a stove and checking on what she's cooking.

He smiles slightly as he watches her whip around at the sound of the door opening. She raised the ladle threateningly as if she was about to attack him but once it sank in that it was only him standing there and not an intruder, she breaks out into a grin, her cheeks flushed, her eyes twinkling.

"Jackson! You scared me!"

She said in her high pitched girly voice as she tapped her hand repeatedly against her chest as if trying to slow down her heart beat.

"Oh, is that why you were about to beat me to death with a ladle?"

Jackson said as he put his back pack down while teasing her mischievously.

Lexie gave out a high pitched giggle and there was a tenderness in her gaze as he looked at him that didn't go unnoticed by Jackson.

He knows she likes him.

In a way that is more than friends and more than what he's ready to give her.

But no matter how much he wanted to bring himself to return the feelings and to just take her up on what she's readily offering, somehow he just can't bring himself to.

And it was not without lack of trying.

He knows that she is a great girl.

She is caring and sweet and pretty in that simple, all natural kind of way.

She has helped him through so much with Jaden and the household and even if he appreciates her and everything that she's done for him and his son, there is a part of him that knows that she'll never be the right girl.

She doesn't make his heart sing or his heart ache with longing when he sees her.

To him, she was just Lexie.

A good friend and his deceased wife's best friend.

"Have you had dinner?"

Lexie said in an upbeat tone before turning around to stir the pot that was on top of the stove and the smell of her delicious home cooking filled the room.

"Jaden fell asleep just a couple of minutes ago. He was waiting for you but I told him you might be late so I finally convinced him to go to bed".

She talked with her back to him.

Jackson looked towards the closed door of the room where his son was sleeping.

There was an unmistakable tone of worry that crept into his voice as he thought of him and how sick he was when he left him for his convenience store gig very early this morning.

"How is he?"

He asked in a quiet voice.

Sensing the distress in his voice, Lexie turned to face him with a sympathetic look on her face.

"He's better Jackson but I think you still need to have him checked. Ummm- his medicines have also run out and-".

Jackson nodded gravely in understanding before muttering a muffled curse under his breath.

He knows he's doing the best he could but there are times when he wishes that somehow he can do more to be able to provide his son with the best care.

Times like today when he can't find a permanent job and money was scarce and Jaden was once again sick.

Lexie walked over to where he is.

She rubbed his back sympathetically as she talked to him in a soothing voice as if trying to chase all his worries away.

"There you go again. Don't blame yourself. You're doing enough. You wake up at 5 to cashier at the 7-11, you do odd jobs for Mrs. Womack , you deliver parcels part time. Gosh, if you keep at this I'm worried that you'd be the one who'd fall sick. If that happens, what would happen to Jaden? What would happen to me?"

Lexie posed the last question tentatively in an almost whisper. A habit formed perhaps by being rejected by Jackson not one time too many but still, she can't help herself from trying again and again.

Jackson heard the longing in her voice but he chose to disregard it.

Instead, he stood up to ruffle her hair affectionately.

A wide smile that didn't quite reach his eyes now pasted on his face as he forced himself to not show how burdened he feels over the fact that his son was sick once again and at a time when his savings is almost close to being depleted.

"Lexie, you know I need the money".

He said slowly as if he was talking to a child.

Lexie gave a little pout as she looked up at him. There was a frustrated look on her face as she replied to him.

"I know! And I said I have some saved up. Why won't you just use it?"

She replied as if things are just that simple and Jackson just gave her a soft smile.

There was a kindness in his eyes as he spoke to her that was almost enough to overwhelm her.

"Keep it. I know you need it too. I'd find a way. Besides, I got this gig tomorrow at The Century for this exclusive event. It would be enough to tide us over. One of the wait staff fell ill and they were short of a person so Charles recommended me. "

Lexie's eyes widened.

"REALLY? That super exclusive country club where celebrities go and where people dressed in all those luxury brands hang out? WHOA! What if you meet George Clooney?"

And Jackson lets out a loud laugh at that.

Lexie's face immediately brightened.

She loves making him happy.

He very rarely was and she feels that he deserves to be nothing less than that.

"I'd be sure to get an autograph for you"

He said humorously and she looked up at him with such love in her eyes that Jackson felt uncomfortable and he had to look away.

Quickly changing the subject, he walks over to the stove and opens the pot of stew that Lexie was just cooking before turning around to once again face her.

"Thanks for dinner. I can take it from here Lexie. It's late and it's better if you go home. I can just probably drop Jaden at your shop tomorrow so that you can do some work even if he's with you".

For a second, he saw her face fall.

The disappointment clearly evident in her eyes which she tried to hide behind the façade of nonchalance as she nodded and gave him a smile.

"Right. I know you're tired and you need to rest too".

She puts on a forced smile on her face and she reluctantly gathers her things and prepares to leave while Jackson feels totally like a cad as he watches her.

"Lexie-"

It might have been guilt that made him call out to her. He saw her hand freeze on the door handle but she remained with her back turned away from him when he uttered her name.

"Thank You."

He said with much sincerity.

It was the only thing that he can think of to say which encompasses the affection and apology that he feels for her and towards her and the meaning was not lost on Lexie as she finally turned around to face him.

"You know I'd do anything for you Jackson. _ANYTHING_".

And with one last sad smile at him, she was out the door and was gone. Her words hanging softly in the air as Jackson thought to himself that perhaps, it was foolish to want so much when he can just settle for somebody like Lexie,

Especially when she was just right within his reach.

Especially when she's always been within his grasp.

**APRIL+JACKSON**

**APRIL'S POV**

The huge ballroom of The Century looked magnificent with its decorations.

With its glittering crystal chandeliers and high ceilings plus its modern furnitures, one cannot deny that there is a quiet elegance to the whole place that screams of exclusivity and class that seemed to only be reserved for the privileged few.

However, tonight there was an added air of snobbishness that permeated the whole room as I look at the who's who of the New York elite all gathered together in one place.

There were men in black tie and women in fabulous gowns and cocktail dresses.

There were well known surgeons, models, celebrities, politicians and noble businessmen who all smile at me and call out my name like they were my very best friends from the moment I entered even if the truth remains that I don't know who the hell they are or give a damn as to where I've probably met them.

I plastered on what felt like my 103rd fake smile of the night as yet another bimbo waylaid me with questions of who I was wearing (as if people could be worn!) and how I looked "uber fab" with my updo.

I mouthed platitudes and smiled and said all the right things but deep inside I wish that I could just tell her to get lost so that I could just go home and hide there until the party has ended.

I was already thinking of ways on how to do just that amidst her droning of how the new collection of Chanel for this season was just "sooooo divine" and how it was an abomination that she was 92nd in the waitlist for the new Hermes bag when the crowd parted and I saw _HIM_.

He was wearing a tuxedo that fitted him in all the right places and he was still as good looking as when I last saw him.

He was smiling and relaxed as he talked to a group of people, champagne glass in hand, a far cry from the bundle of nerves that I have suddenly become the moment that I laid my eyes on him.

I watched him as he stood from across me. He was still unaware of my presence as he leaned down to listen to an elderly man who was whispering in his ear and he lets out a loud guffaw after.

I wished I could have seen instead that he was hurting.

That he was remorseful and dejected and miserable the way that I exactly feel at this moment five years after he has left me.

I had imagined this moment many times in my head.

Of the time when we'd come face to face again and he would beg for my forgiveness and I would let him grovel before I turn my back on him and tell him I'd never take him back while he cries at my feet.

I have it all planned out in my head before I went here but nothing had prepared me for this.

For this overwhelming feeling of melancholy and emotion that suddenly engulfed me the moment that I laid my eyes on him.

Just a glimpse and I was back to the bumbling, love struck schoolgirl with a crush who was head over heels for him.

And that was when he turned his head and he saw me.

The smile that he had on was still on his face when our eyes met.

I saw the glint of recognition in his eyes when he looked at me and as we stare at each other from across the room, I saw the bedimpled grin that he had on slowly disappear to be replaced with one of somberness.

What was that on his face?

Was that regret?

Anguish?

Happiness?

I can barely form a coherent thought as my eyes remained glued to his as if I was suddenly rendered powerless even if I wanted to look away.

Time ceased to exist.

It was as if everything just faded into the background.

At that moment there was only him and me and it was as if the years of hurt and pain just resurrected but at the same time it felt as if it also melted away.

_Henry._

I imagined the name passing from my lips like a chant or a plea but I also wanted to shout out at him and curse him for ruining our perfectly happy little life and taking my dreams along with him when he left me.

I sensed the people in the ballroom noticing what's happening.

I heard whispers passing on from one person to the next as they witness a scene that would surely be the talk of the town the next day and I can't help but think that the people in our circle might be such big snobs but they are still as much of a gossip like any other commoner.

However, despite the tension rippling around us in the room Henry and I continued to stare at each other.

My eyes curious and inquisitive as I repressed the urge to ask him the question that I have long been wanting to ask ever since he walked away from me.

_Why did you leave me?_

_Do you still think of me as much as I do about you?_

And suddenly that's when I felt the hurt and pain come back with a vengeance that it almost threatened to overwhelm me.

I felt tears stinging the back of my eyes as I look at him make his way slowly towards me.

I know I must get out of there.

I had to.

Otherwise, I'd bawl in his arms and sob and cry with all these people watching me and I can't let that happen if I wanted to keep my pride and my sanity.

Giving out the best acting of my life ever, I gave a bedazzling grin to the person I was talking to before making an inane excuse about checking on the food as I turned on my heel to escape via the kitchen.

I can hear him calling out to me.

"April! April, wait!"

But I continued walking.

I pretended that I didn't hearing anything even if my heart was pounding along to the rhythm of his quickening footsteps and in time with his shouts that are quickly becoming closer and sounding a little bit louder.

I pushed open the door towards the service exit.

My head only filled with thoughts of disappearing and how I should get completely far away from him.

I felt the impact of bumping into someone even before I saw him.

I gasped and looked down at my dress in shock as the unmistaken stain of red wine splashed across my chest and all over my skirt before it gradually spread as it seeped in.

"Shi-! Oh Shi-! I didn't mean to. I'm Sorry – Really – Shi-!"

The waiter whom I bumped into held on to his curses as he shouted but he had his head bowed down as he looked at the damage he's caused me.

His tone was frantic and nervous and as I looked at my dress with my mouth wide open in shock, he started swiping at my chest and my belly probably to dry me off or to remove the stain away.

My eyes flashed in annoyance.

My temper rising to the fore at the audacity of this man to touch me in places that not even men whom I've dated once had even dared to touch.

"WHAT THE HELL!"

I took a deep breath to start an all out rant and to put him in his place.

However, the words died out on my mouth as he lifted his head and I saw his face and I was rendered speechless by how gorgeous he is.

Especially those eyes.

God, those eyes.

He was a stranger to me and yet he seemed vaguely familiar.

As if we've met somewhere at some time but even before I can think back of where or how, I accidentally turned my head and saw Henry already pushing the door that separates us apart.

I was consumed with alarm.

My mind working overtime frantically as I thought of ways on how I can get out of this bind as I turned my head from him and then back to the stranger before me.

"I'm really sorry! Please let me pay for the dry cleaning. I really need this -"

I see the strangers lips moving but his words simply washed over me as all I can think about is how to stop Henry in his tracks even before he gets to me.

"April, Please!"

Henry shouted out in annoyance as I watch him take the last 10 steps that were keeping us apart.

Like a deer caught in headlights, I knew I was trapped.

It must have been the adrenaline but the next thing I knew, I was grabbing the guy before me by the collar and as if all my logic and good sense has suddenly flown out the window, I planted my lips on his.

"Christ, APRIL!"

I heard Henry's stern shout from somewhere near me.

However, that was the last coherent thought in my head as after the initial shock of just standing still, wide eyed, after feeling my mouth on his, the stranger in my arms was now responding to my kiss by reciprocating it passionately.

He kissed me thoroughly.

His mouth warm against mine as he lingered on my lips slowly.

His lips moved against mine coaxingly.

Wildly.

As if he was memorizing my feel and remembering every line and contour of my mouth and I felt a fluttering in my stomach as I moaned softly against his lips.

I must have been really into the kiss because I had my eyes closed and from behind them I saw stars.

However, as he slowly broke away from me, I opened my eyes reluctantly and let out a gasp as it slowly sank in on me that it was not stars that I was seeing but rather the flash of cameras that came from the throngs of reporters that were now fanatically surrounding us.

DAMN IT.

When did the paparazzi get here?

I saw Henry's assistants quickly controlling the crowd as much as they could and I watched him being led away to safety by one of them.

I saw him dragging his feet and looking back for me but even before he could get to where I was, he was already pulled away towards the exit and his worried look was the last that I saw before the stranger and I were mobbed.

Microphones were being shoved at our face.

There were incoherent questions that were being thrown at us left and right.

_"What is your association with April Kepner?"_

_"Are you not getting back together with Henry Burton?"_

_"We heard that you're engaged again?"_

_"Who is this man and why are you kissing him?"_

I was reeling from the maliciousness and prying tone of the questions.

I was stupid and didn't think things through and this is the price I had to pay for acting on impulse.

I felt my heart racing. My mind drawing a blank as panic eats away at me as I looked for the nearest escape route to avoid the harassment that I am currently facing.

"He looks like a waiter. Does your mother know that you are slumming it?"

The question was discriminating and debasing.

Instinctively, I whipped my head to look up at the stranger beside me.

I only had a glimpse of the hard set of his jaw before he grabbed me by the hand and pulled me close to him.

I stood still in surprise as the impact brought me real close to him. My face is now right across his chest and as I tried to move away his hands pressed tenderly against my back and that was where he kept me.

I sensed him using his other free arm to shove reporters away and to shield me from the cameras that were spitefully recording every move we make.

His unexpected move surprised the paparazzis.

They stood still in shock for a moment and it bought Henry's personal assistant some time to contain them so that we had the chance to run away.

I barely even know where we're going.

My feet just following him blindly until finally I couldn't hear another sound and that was when I angrily broke away from him.

"Now, what?"

I said sarcastically as I brushed my hair away from my face as I take in our surroundings.

"Where's your car?"

I asked as it was the only logical question to ask since he has brought us to a fairly secluded parking lot.

He took a deep breath as if he was extremely annoyed by me.

However, he didn't say a word.

He only pointed to a dilapidated looking motorbike and that was when I realized that he was the guy I met a week ago in my office buildings parking lot.

However, damn if I'd let him know that I'd remember a guy like him.

"That's it? That's your game plan? To make me ride-"

I waved my hand around his vehicle as If I was at a loss as to what to call it.

"That piece of junk to get me away from here?"

He must have finally snapped because he looked at me with an obviously exaggerated smile as he leaned close to me and I moved back to get away from him.

"Sorry princess. It was not in my plan to rescue a bitchy damsel tonight so apologies if I didn't bring my carriage".

My cheeks reddened at that.

I gave a haughty toss of my head as he slowly straightened up without another word and walked away from me to get on his bike and to put on his helmet.

"What? Are you getting on or what?"

He shouted at me.

I can feel my blood boiling.

No one has ever dared to talk to me that way in my entire lifetime and my pride was stinging that the first time ever would have to be with a guy like him.

"THANK YOU"

I said with exaggerated politeness.

"But I can just call on my driver and - DAMN!"

I muttered a muffled expletive as I saw the throng of paparazzis once again making its way towards me in a pack as if they were a bunch of rabid hyenas.

He turned his head to look towards the direction of where I'm looking.

He then looked again at me and gave me a smile that even without him saying out loud seems to scream of the words "I told you so" before he drawled back arrogantly at me.

"You were saying?"

"DAMN!"

I lifted my skirts as I straddled the seat behind him.

I thought I saw a glimpse of a genuine smile of amusement on his face as he threw me another helmet and I frantically jammed it on my head so that it would fit my snazzy French twist.

"You ready?"

He asked once I was done and as i shouted yes above the roar of the engine I would never even have imagined that at that moment, I was not only just saying yes to him taking me away from the place of my distress but also to the opportunity to let go of my past so that I can finally move towards a future where I can start all over again with him.

* * *

_**AUTHORS NOTE:**_

_**How are you guys liking it so far?**_

_**Feeling it yet?**_

_**I know the writing style is different as i thought of writing it in the first person for April but personally, i'm excited about it.**_

_**Reviews as always are much appreciated.**_


	4. Chapter 2 - The Start of Something New

**CHAPTER TWO**

**The Start of Something New**

**APRIL**

There was something so thrilling about being on the back of a speeding bike.

There was something so decadent and freeing and liberating about letting go of everything that had just happened to me in the past 10 or so minutes as I deliberately emptied my mind and just immersed myself in the feel of the wind against my face and the gentle "wap, wap, wap" sound that my skirt makes as it whips against my bare legs.

At this moment, I can almost believe that everything is normal.

That Henry had not returned and that I was not doing something that would probably give my mother a heart attack or that I have my arms wrapped around the waist of a total stranger.

Not that It was my choice to hold on to him like that.

At first I was actually _really_ trying my best to avoid touching him by only holding on loosely to his shirt while we get away from those pesky vermins who pass themselves off as reporters but then I almost fell off so he shouted at me to hold on tight and when I hesitated, he grabbed my arms from behind and put it around his waist and yeah- that's where it had stayed on for these past couple of minutes.

Not that I have to explain or anything, but it was not as bad as I imagined.

It was not within my nature really to put my life in the hands of a total stranger as willingly as I've done with him.

Heck! He might even be a killer or a kidnapper who's about to bring me to my death for all I know but there was something about him that made me believe that I could trust him even if I am still a little bit annoyed with him.

I tilted my head a little from behind his back to sneak a peek at his profile.

His eyebrows were furrowed in concentration.

His lips pursed together in a pout and against my will I remembered how warm they felt when we kissed as they moved against mine.

He definitely was attractive but in a simple down to earth way that screams struggling model/actor rather than the kind of good looking that Henry was which somehow embodies moneyed, 2nd generation old rich heir.

He was still wearing the vest that might have been standard issue for all the wait staff for the party that night but he carried it with such panache that it could have passed off as being part of Armani's latest collection.

His body was perfectly toned and fit and muscular in all the right places and I can even feel some of them ripple underneath my cheek as he made a wide swerve to make a U-turn when the lights on the intersection that we stopped at suddenly turned green.

"WHERE TO?"

He shouted at me at the top of his lungs as if desperately trying to make his voice heard from the force of the wind and the sound of his bikes engine.

His words jolted me out of my (indecent) reverie.

His voice bringing me back to the present and reminding me that I have problems that are far more pressing as of the moment rather than wondering if he works out and If yes, how many times a week he goes to the gym.

"THE PLAZA"

I shouted back at him knowing all too goddamn well that I can't go back to my apartment because either, one: my mother would already be waiting there ready to have my head, or two: the place will be teeming with reporters and It is not the wisest of ideas to just face them head on after that spectacle that I just staged and which I singularly let happen.

He shifted his head a little to look at me and I saw him cock his eyebrow in curiosity.

"I -I - JUST CAN'T GO HOME RIGHT NOW… I- "

I stopped midway into my sentence.

I suddenly realized that he was not even asking and here I was on the defensive, babbling like an idiot with this indescribable urge to just explain myself to him without prompting.

"Whatever… you're not even my mother"

I muttered childishly under my breath in an effort to salvage my pride and even if I sounded as if I couldn't care less, still, I felt my cheeks redden.

Moreso, when I saw him trying to hide the smile that was lifting the corners of his mouth and even more when I felt his shoulders shaking slightly as he probably tried to hide his laughter.

THAT'S IT.

I don't even know him yet but I decided I hate him.

"SO WHAT HAPPENED BACK THERE?"

He shouted back towards me and his question caught me unaware that it stopped my hate tirade immediately.

Thank goodness for helmets.

At least it offered me a semblance of protection because I have no doubt that if previously my cheeks were only beet red, I am pretty sure that at this moment it is now already ten shades of fiery.

"EXCUSE ME… I-I DIDN'T KISS YOU BECAUSE I WAS ATTRACTED TO YOU, OKAY?"

I said icily.

Lest he presume that I planted one on him because I had the hots for him and not because I was desperate to stop Henry in his tracks .

"IT WAS A MOMENTARY LAPSE OF JUDGMENT. I KNOW THAT I SHOULD HAVE KEPT MY HEAD ON STRAIGHT AND -"

I felt my body jerk forward and I held on to his waist even more tightly as he braked to a full stop in front of another stoplight.

He twisted his body around a little so that his eyes are now visible to me and I saw how they were creased at the corners and dancing with mirth and I just wanted to kick his ass at that moment because he seemed as if he was having so much fun at my expense.

However, I was at his mercy.

I don't even know how to get anywhere without my phone and with only my checkbook and my lipstick in my tiny purse and it took every single ounce of willpower in my body to control my temper because if there's one thing I owe this stranger, at least it was the most basic of social graces.

I cleared my throat and straightened up.

My back ramrod straight and my fingers barely holding on to his shirt as I tossed my head haughtily to bring home the point that I would not lose my poise just because he's being an uncouth, uncivilized cad.

"AS I WAS SAYING - I DIDN'T KISS YOU BECAUSE-"

"I was not asking about the kiss…"

He said softly.

His expression changed quite suddenly.

The concern in his voice evident as he looked at me with soft eyes that seem to say that I can trust him and that he's there to understand me.

"I was asking about why you were running away?"

I felt myself immediately withdraw from him.

My walls coming up and my defenses shutting him off because how dare him presume that I was running away from something.

How dare him jump to that conclusion and pretend that we are good friends that he could just ask me that question that not even people who _KNOW_ me would even attempt to ask me.

How dare him.

_How dare him speak the truth when I can barely admit to myself how it's already been five years and still, I'm running away from the scars that Henry has brought me?_

"It's none of your business."

The edge in my voice was undeniable.

For a moment he stared at me in silence.

After a minute of pause he opened his mouth as if he wanted to say something but then the lights turned green and he seemed to just let it go.

We spent the next few minutes of our journey in utter silence.

Me, unbearably uncomfortable from trying to keep my balance as I try to put some semblance of a physical distance between us, and him, not uttering another word nor even looking back to check on me again like he had been doing previously ever since we began our journey.

Well… not that it mattered anyway because I probably wouldn't ever get to see him again.

Obviously, because we really don't run around in the same circle and also because I'd probably be dead tomorrow once my mother and I get to meet.

Lost in my own thoughts, I barely even registered that we have reached our destination until he brought the bike to a full stop on the hotels driveway.

"Well, here we are… The Plaza"

He said distantly and there was an awkward silence that fell between us as I straightened my skirt and tried my best to get off behind him in the most lady like manner that is permissible seeing that I was astride a dilapidated bike in a slinky gown and with diamonds dripping down my neck.

I would have been able to pull if off perfectly too (the ladylike part I mean), if only my heel didn't get stuck on the hem of my gown.

"Goddam-"

I cussed under my breath instinctively.

I grabbed onto his forearm reflexively as I try to regain my balance and I felt a frisson of something pass through my body as he also grabbed me by the wrist in order to steady me.

And that's when our eyes met.

Those incredible, unbelievable eyes that seem to drown me with what I perceived to be kindness that it sort of scared me.

I jumped back away immediately from him, breaking the moment.

I looked away and cleared my throat and with a mumbled and barely indecipherable "THANKS" I turned my back to start my walk going towards the hotel doors.

Maybe I was a little quick to judge him.

I thought to myself as I take the steps going towards the Plaza's front door.

I should have been more thankful that rather than anybody else, at least I bumped into a guy like him who was decent and helpful and who made me feel even for just the couple of minutes that he was bringing me to my destination that I had an ally.

Perhaps I should have been more friendly.

Less haughty and overbearing and -

"Wait up!"

I heard him shouting from where I left him and with a curious tilt of my head, I turned around to face him.

He was still sitting on his bike looking like the reincarnation of a brown skinned, hairless James Dean before I took notice that he had his arm outstretched and his hand face up towards me.

"Ummm-

He repeated, waving his hand around for emphasis and I felt my jaws clenching as I thought to myself how after all, he was not as decent as I have imagined.

With hands trembling from anger, I opened my heavily jeweled clutch and took out my checkbook and pen before signing one of them.

Ripping it away heatedly, I lifted up my skirt and marched towards him belligerently before slapping the check on his open palm with as much force that I could muster even if I wanted to shout at him about how much of a mercenary he is being.

"Here, keep the change"

I said with venom dripping from my voice.

"I'm sorry I didn't pay you sooner. Frankly, I really am not familiar with how much a taxi costs from 43rd Street to 5th Ave., but I guess a thousand dollars is more than enough to cover your gas fare."

And with one last sharp look at him, I turned on my heel to walk away without even looking back that I didn't even see how he was looking at the check in his hands with a surprised face or how he followed me with a stunned gaze until I reached the hotel entrance and disappeared from its doors.

Putting away the unpleasant memory of everything that's happened to me for the night, I marched with my head held high towards the hotel counter.

I barely even registered the weird looks that people were giving me or the discreet peeks that the front office receptionist gave me as she gave me my key.

Sure, I know that people were whispering and that they were probably talking about how I behaved like a harlot in front of my ex but hell, they give me the same kind of look whenever they recognize me even when I am just out grabbing coffee.

_Rest._

I need rest, that's right.

I'm sure that if I just get some shut eye and a moment alone to myself, I'd know what to do the following morning.

Filled with new resolve and a renewed sense of confidence, I pressed the elevator buttons and entered it coolly.

As the doors closed, I saw my reflection on the mirror of its doors and I half laughed and half whimpered.

I was still wearing a helmet.

_That guys helmet._

And at that moment, I finally understood that if there's someone who acted like a jerk in this situation, it was not really him at all but rather it was myself.

And I wonder where the old April had gone.

The one that's bright and happy and kind, the person that I was before time and experience have turned me into this jaded, bitter version of myself – the one who always expects the worst from every one.

**JACKSON**

Wincing slightly as the rays of the morning sun hit his face, Jackson opened his eyes reluctantly before shooting straight up in bed as he grabbed his alarm clock.

7:45 AM.

Goddammit. He's late.

He should already be at the commissary at this time and he should already be helping with the preparation for that evenings catering job.

Oh.

He forgot.

He doesn't even have that part time job anymore after getting the sudden urge to play hero last night and so he got fired.

Leaning back against his pillows and willing sleep to come back to him, Jackson closed his eyes but instead a vision of the girl from yesterday filled his imagination.

He was not even surprised that he was thinking about her because without a doubt, she's simply one of the most gorgeous women that he's ever seen in his life.

Not in the Hollywood kind of way though or even the fresh faced kind which was more of his type. Rather, she was more like one of those classy dames from those magazines that he leafs through when he's in line at the grocery cashier or one of those sculptures or paintings that he saw at a gallery a long, long time ago for a class field trip.

The ones that are okay to look at but which feels cold and hard to the touch.

The ones that belong on a mantel on a penthouse in Upper East side and not on a rickety coffee table from his side of the Bronx.

It was such a shame that she has the body of a pin up girl though.

Those ample breasts that pressed against his back as she leaned forward against him on his bike or that awesome backside that she possess which swayed seductively when she walked in that gown that hugged all her curves that it took him awhile to pry his gaze away.

Shit.

He had been without a woman for too long.

How could he even get aroused at the thought of bedding someone who clearly had a stick way up in her butt?

He could just imagine her in bed lying stiff as a rod and looking at him with laser beams shooting from her eyes as she commands him to go this way on her rather than the way that he instinctively wants.

Chuckling to himself at how he was thinking like a perverted old man, Jackson opened his eyes and threw away the covers because he knew that sleep is now the farthest thing from his mind.

As he sat up in bed, his feet scrambling to find his slippers, his eyes lands on the check that seemed to be staring at him from on top of his dresser and once again he can't help but pause pensively.

There was something about her eyes though.

There was something that felt so vulnerable about her last night that brought out his protective instinct and if he would only be honest to himself right at this moment, there is still that tiny part of him that believes that deep down inside she is really all bark and no bite.

Maybe she's really like a cute, prickly little hedgehog.

All thorny and defensive on the outside but probably all small and harmless on the inside.

He didn't have any more time to ponder on that theory though as he looked with a start to a rushing Lexie who banged his door as she entered his bedroom.

"JACKSON!"

Her chest was heaving and her cheeks were flushed with panic that his initial thought was that something had happened to Jaden while he was sleeping.

"What—What-"

He can barely form a coherent sentence as he felt his heart beating rapidly against his chest.

He remembered a night not too long ago when he came home from work to the same state that Lexie was now in, all because Jaden was taken by an ambulance and the doctor said that if they have gone any later, he probably would not have made it.

"What - What is it? Is Jaden-"

He asked as he walked towards Lexie and grabbed her shoulders in an effort to calm her down.

"JACKSON! WHAT IS THIS? HAVE YOU READ THIS?"

It took him a moment to realize that Lexie was waving around Page six of the New York Post in front of his face and that she was in a tizzy not because of Jaden but because of something else entirely.

Breathing a sigh of relief, Jackson slumped against the frame of his bedroom door as he looked at Lexie accusingly.

"Damn woman. You almost killed me"

Sputtering indignantly, Lexie pointed at his face on the broadsheet.

"I—HA! I am killing you? How about you're killing _ME_?"

Her voice was full of accusation, her eyes mirroring the pain that she probably feels at what she deems as betrayal that even before his eyes landed on the picture of himself and the woman from last night kissing, Jackson sort of already knew what Lexie was so upset about.

Against his will, Jackson felt a slight twinge of annoyance.

Not towards the news that was masquerading as classy reading because to him, it is no better than a trashy gossip rag but towards Lexie for acting all affronted because he's not sure why he has to explain himself or answer to her no matter who it is that he was kissing.

Rubbing his face exasperatedly over his face, Jackson threw another pointed glance at the newspaper that Lexie was carrying, catching in passing the screaming headline

"_It's her turn: Heiress April Kepner jilts long time absent lover for hot Century Club waiter!"_

He doesn't know which is more laughable.

The fact that he was called hot or the fact that he was lusting after a multi billionaire heiress who would probably never throw him a second glance if only they met under the usual circumstances.

Still, he can't help but smile a little.

_April Kepner._

He now has a name to put with the face and he can't help but preen a little when he saw how she looked as if she was so into that kiss as much as he was.

Too bad that that kiss would never ever be repeated, he thought regretfully as Lexie watches him intently with an annoyed expression on her face.

"So?"

She asked him like a nagging wife, following him as he walked into the kitchen and as he poured coffee into a mug.

"So- what?'

He asked with a shrug and Lexie groaned in frustration out loud.

"UGHHHHHHH! I hate it when you're like this! Tell me Jackson! What is this about? Who is this woman and why are you kissing her?"

She sounded shrill and desperate and Jackson looked at Lexie from above his coffee cup, eyes slightly flashing in irritation as he took a sip.

"It was a misunderstanding Lex. That's all! Have you even read the headline? She's an heiress for goodness sake! You think that I run around with that kind of crowd?"

Lexie took a deep breath to calm herself, her eyes still doubtful but at least she now looked somewhat pacified with his answer.

However, there was a niggling feeling inside her chest that she just can't seem to let go of.

An intuition that everything was not as insignificant as what Jackson make it seems and she knows that she is making a fool out of herself by wearing her heart out on her sleeve but she just can't help it.

"That- "

She waved the photograph of them kissing in front of Jackson's face.

"—does not look like you're misunderstanding."

And Jackson almost smiled at that.

Because heck if Lexie was not right on the spot.

He enjoyed that kiss.

He relished it and reveled in it because April Kepner might be all things and might be so into herself that she thinks that the world revolves around her, but damn if she is not one hell of a good kisser.

It was the sudden appearance of his son however which erased all thoughts of the redhead from his mind and which saved him from having to defend himself once again to Lexie.

He was wearing his canula and wheeling his oxygen tank behind him and he gave him a shaky smile as he collapsed onto a chair in their dining room table when it had barely even taken him five steps to walk the distance from his bedroom door going towards their small, crowded kitchen.

"Jaden, you should be in bed!"

Jackson said in a tone that's meant to be stern but which came out as always as being very soft and loving.

Instinctively, his hands immediately flew towards his forehead to feel him up.

A worried crease promptly appearing on his forehead when his son felt warm to the touch and the crease deepened even more when Jaden sneezed thereafter.

"Lexie, I bought some of Jaden's medicines last night before I went to work, can you get it from my dresser?"

He said in an alarmed voice and as if sensing Jackson's agitation, Lexie urgently complies but not before throwing Jaden a perturbed look and giving Jackson's shoulder a gentle squeeze that is meant to comfort him.

"Relax dad - "

Jaden said in between wheezes once Lexie was out of sight.

"I'm okay. I am twelve and not five - There's no need for you and Aunt Lex to baby me so much. I'm not sick. I am just bored from lying down, is all."

And despite the direness of the situation, Jackson can't help but heave a sigh of relief and to feel proud.

He may have done a lot of mistakes in his life, but he has raised his boy right.

They have been through so many circumstances such as this in the past.

Of the endless worry and fretting and trepidation that something terrible would happen to him one day, but he had never, not even once made him feel as if he was responsible that he was living such a miserable life because he always contents himself with whatever it is that he can provide.

He always tries his best to be as less of a burden as his current illness would allow him.

To make do with what little they have and to worry about his dad as much as he does about him and Jackson feels guilty.

Because he deserves more.

His son is entitled to more.

He wants to give him that.

But the only thing that's lacking is the means for Jackson to give him exactly just that.

"Aunt Lex! I already drank my medicine! Please don't bother!"

Jaden shouted as best as he could despite the panting and the gasping and Jackson ruffles his head affectionately before standing up and giving him a kiss on top of his head after being convinced that his son was perfectly as normal as he could get.

"What's this?"

Lexie asked and Jackson turns around from making breakfast for his son to face her as she stands from the open frame of his bedrooms doorway.

There was a worried expression on her face as she clutched the thousand dollar check that the girl from last night – no- April, gave him much to his surprise.

"It's not mine Lex. Somebody mistakenly gave that to me but I have to return it."

She paused for awhile as if digesting what he'd just told her.

"But it's yours?"

"Supposedly"

He shrugged casually as he turned around to continue making eggs for Jaden.

He couldn't care less about the money.

He didn't ask for it and Lord knows that the circumstances surrounding it was a hell lot of insulting but it seems that Lexie had other things in mind because the next thing he knew, she was already beside him, whispering angrily.

"Are you crazy? You know that Jaden needs to have his tests for his surgery. If you say it's yours, why do you need to return it? This will go a long way!"

"I can hear you Aunt Lex!"

Jaden said in a singsongy voice from behind them as he rolled his eyes.

He's been through this a million times.

He's been through countless arguments between his dad and the woman who raised him almost like he was her son and just like today, it mostly just circles around the topic of him, his sickness and their lack of money.

"He can hear you!"

Jackson teased Lexie by using the same tone that his son used and against her will, Lexie found the corners of her mouth lifting.

Jackson always has a way of making matters seem light.

Of shouldering the burden and worry that he is carrying so that he's the only one suffering but not the people around him whom he cares about.

He looks at her sincerely.

"I'd find a way Lex. There'd be some way."

He said in a voice that was meant to convince her and she looked at him with trusting eyes.

"It's that pride – that stupid, damn pride of yours."

She muttered under her breath as she backed down but not before she slapped the check that she was holding against his chest playfully in a last ditch effort to make him understand where she stands.

And in that instance, Jackson can almost believe that everything will be alright.

That things will solve itself and that Jaden will be okay and that sooner or later this mess he's involved in will blow over and then everything will go back to the way it was.

**JACKSON + APRIL**

**JACKSON'S POV**

If there was something that Jackson's one minute of infamy has brought him, it is the fact that the handful of people who work in the service industry who were able to read the news about him and the Kepner chick from yesterday seem to somehow now look up to him as their hero.

He has gotten a complimentary drink from a restaurant nearby when he parked his bike, he has gotten catcalls from a group of waiters out on break about how he's given them hope and now he's camped outside the door of April's penthouse in The Plaza just because a concierge stuck out his neck for him and sneaked him inside even without him asking.

However, it has been over one hour that he has been waiting for her but he sees no sign of her.

He's tried ringing her doorbell, knocking on her door and even going so far as to take a peek in her doors peephole but everything was quiet.

_Should he not wait for her?_

_Should he just leave the check that she has issued him under her door stuck with a note?_

However, he was hoping that he could somehow see her.

For him to explain himself personally to her, he reasoned but deep down inside there was a niggling unexplainable feeling inside his chest that he wanted to see her just because.

He was seriously contemplating and deliberating on the pros and cons of staying or leaving when he heard the slight ding of the private elevators leading towards her suite.

There was a slight crash that he heard which was replaced by a loud tune that someone whom he presumed is intoxicated was humming under their breath before she emerged from right around the bend where the lifts were at and he can't help but looked surprised as he saw the appearance of the woman whom he was waiting for as she walk towards him.

If during the last two brief moments that they have met before she has always look put together, now she looks a little unkempt.

Her hair is flowing loosely behind her back, her mascara was smudged a little in the corners and she is tottering on her heels and looking like she is _very, very drunk._

"Oh! Motorbike!"

She exclaimed in surprise as she noticed his presence.

She was completely inebriated that it didn't even occur to her to ask how he knew where she was or to question his sudden appearance at her doorstep.

She pointed at him and then made a gesture as if she was driving a bike complete with sound effects and Jackson couldn't help but be amused and to let out a little chuckle as he watches her.

She giggles back at him.

Her slight frame swaying slightly as she laughs out loud and then she consequently shushes herself.

"Are you alright?"

He asked in an entertained voice.

She always surprises him when he least expects it.

She is strong at times when she seems weak, fiery when she looks cold and aloof and now she's being all crazy and out of sorts when he expects her to be put together and poised just like the last time he saw her.

"Yeahhhhhhhhh! I'm alright! I'm happy! On top of the world even! WOOHOOOOO!"

She shouted like a college girl who's just had her first taste of spring break and she leans back a little to stare at him which slightly puts her a little off balance and so he holds out a hand to grab her wrist and steady her on her feet.

"To what do I owe this pleasure, you gorgeous, gorgeous man you!"

She told him in a slightly slurred voice and Jackson cannot help but smile at how adorable of a drunk she was.

He flashed her the folded check in his hands.

April scrunches her nose and squints her eyes as she tries to recognize what it was and then when she finally remembered what it is she made a face and waves her hand around.

"Oh, that!"

She said in a flat, monotone voice.

"Just hold on."

She said while she fished around in her purse for her hotel room key and when she finally had the door open after several failed attempts at trying, she gestured for Jackson to come follow her inside but Jackson hesitated a little in her doorway.

He was unsure of the protocols that he should follow as they were barely strangers.

He only wanted the chance to return the check to her and explain himself but he has no intention of making small talk or of staying.

However, the next thing he knew she was pulling him by the hand and forcing him to sit down on the plush sofa that takes up most of the center of her hotel rooms imposing living room and she leaves him alone for awhile much to his consternation but it didn't take long before she came back and handed him another check, this time for 5,000 dollars.

Jackson looks at the check first and then at her in surprise.

"Isn't this what you came here for?"

She told him condescendingly.

His expression hardened as he came to a realization that she thought he was here not to return her money but rather to ask her for more and the amusement that he felt watching her just a few minutes ago quickly disappears to be replaced with feelings that are somewhat a cross between pity and disappointment.

"Look, I don't know what sort of upbringing you've had to just presume that everyone's just after your money, but not everyone's like that. _I'm not like that._"

He said in a firm voice, his jaw set, his eyes flashing in anger.

"I actually came here to return this."

He places the check she first issued him and then the next on her coffee table.

"Sometimes people help because they want to. I don't need to be paid. A simple thank you would have sufficed."

He told her sarcastically as he stood up to leave and he looked at her in surprise as she scoffed at that.

"So what do you want me to do? Beg for your forgiveness? Kneel?"

She sneered.

Although the way she chewed on her lips after somehow belied the malice in her words.

"That's no big deal! I can kneel!"

She said boastfully and she proceeds to do just that and Jackson looks at her in surprise and grabs her by the elbow before she was completely on her knees.

"Look! I don't want to be involved with your kind of crazy -"

He started off angrily, his hand still on hers but then April cuts him off.

"What's the big deal about kneeling? About saying sorry? He didn't even kneel. That bastard didn't even kneel. He left his bride on his wedding day and he disappeared for years and now he just came back like he had every freakin' right to do so? If he couldn't contact me five years ago, then why not four years ago? Or two years ago?"

She babbled on as if she was just telling him about her latest hobby and Jackson stares at her in confusion.

"What? I don't -"

"No- Why not last year? And he's doing well! He's doing so well that he can even laugh and drink and show his face in front of me and talk to my mother about wanting to get back together with me but not with me? That bastard. That stinking rotten bastard."

She laughs and Jackson's eyes softened as he saw the vulnerability in her gaze.

She laughs until there were tears in her eyes and Jackson instinctively holds her towards him and that's when her expression changes.

She was now crying legit tears and she tries to hide her face against his piercing gaze by burrowing into his chest.

"But my heart aches so much. Right here."

She rubs her chest, her shoulders wracked with sobs as she continued to cry against him.

"It hurts so much right here"

She said in between sobs as she points at her heart and she looked up at him.

Jackson does not even know what she was crying about.

He doesn't understand what happened and how she's come from being the tough, bitchy girl of a while ago to this woman who's now baring her emotions to a complete stranger like him but there was something about her that makes him want to protect her.

There was an instinct within him that wanted to shield her against the hurt and pain that she is now feeling and a deep sense of obligation that wanted to convince her that it was not the end of the world and that she has to continue fighting.

She tilts her head up.

The crying has now stopped but her eyes were still wet with tears and her breath smells of alcohol but all that Jackson can think about was how delicious her lips were and how it felt so soft during that short time when he had it against him.

"You should go."

She whispered softly to him as she slowly comes to her senses.

Her words were commanding but her tone was in complete contrast to what was coming out of her mouth and Jackson nodded slowly as if mesmerized, his gaze still locked unto hers.

"Yeah - i—I—Should"

"Yeah."

She muttered.

"Yeah."

He breathed.

And as he gave one last nod and finally gained the strength to walk away from her, she holds on to his shirt, her shoulders heaving and Jackson looks at her expectantly and that's when she threw up all over him.

**JACKSON + APRIL**

**APRIL'S POV**

_I'm dying._

That was my first thought as I woke up in bed with my head spinning, my throat parched and my mouth tasting so vile that I swore to myself I'd never touch another bottle of alcohol again for as long as I live or maybe until probably I'm 60.

What the hell was I thinking?

I never drank my sorrows away, preferring instead to face them head on but Henry's sudden reappearance in my life has thrown me for a loop not because I'm still in love with him (Heaven forbid no!) but because he's bringing up the worst years I've ever spent pining over him.

It doesn't help at all too that I am now completely paranoid after not hearing from my mom for two days (well, three if you count today) and It's the waiting for that other shoe to drop that is driving me insane.

I groaned loudly as I burrowed against my pillow as I tried my best to recall the events of yesterday as they were a hazy recollection in my head.

All that I can remember was Henry taking camp in the hospital to wait for me and me doing everything in my power in order to avoid him.

Next thing I knew I was holed up at a bar with a drink or two (which is an understatement) and now here I am in bed, feeling my stomach heave in protest and rightfully earning the punishment for my cowardice and lapse in judgment through queasiness, nausea and one hell of a hangover.

Swinging my legs over the edge of the bed to hit the shower, I gasped in surprise as I stumbled and almost fell upon the prone body of a familiar stranger who is deeply asleep on my bedroom floor.

He was shirtless with only his lower half modestly covered by a blanket but it did nothing to hide the cuts and curves of his perfectly muscled body and even if his face was half hidden by his forearm, I can still see how good looking he is.

Despite the fact that I feel lousy, I still took a minute to appreciate the sheer perfection of the man before me.

It was only after a minute that I spent in silence just staring at his almost perfection, that I came to realize that I was almost naked and dressed only in my underwear.

"Oh no… no… no"

I mumbled under my breath disbelievingly.

I've been known to do crazy things whenever I am under the influence of alcohol but I was never one to indulge in one night stands or casual sex.

_So did i?_

_Did we?_

I mean he's fairly – no scrap that – he's hell of a lot sexy and I understand where the attraction might stem from but still, I've been very careful about going home with strangers and I've only been with one man my whole life so the thought that I did just that last night with this man freaks me out.

I grabbed the comforter from the bed and chastely covered myself with it.

Biting my lip in anxiety as I deliberated my next move, I timidly nudged him with my toe to see if he was awake and he stirred a little before opening his eyes and it was only when I saw their blueish green hue that I remembered who he was.

"Good morning."

He mumbled as he stretched, rewarding me with a smile that showcased his pearly whites to perfection and which was so blinding, it almost took my breath away.

"Morning."

I said as imperiously as I could given the circumstances as I looked down on him

His brows furrowed a little at my coldness.

He sat up, a little disoriented and the blankets moved to reveal a little part of his pelvis and my gaze can't help but stray towards that little patch of skin.

"Did you sleep okay? You feeling better?"

He asked me in a worried tone and i gave out an internal groan as I remembered how I cried and blubbered like a fool all over him last night but still, I cannot remember for the life of me why we were undressed and what happened between us after that.

"Did - Did we -"

I pointed to myself and then to him and he looks at me curiously before his face clears up and he lets out a laugh as he finally understood what I was getting at.

"You mean -"

He mimicked my gesture and pointed at himself and then at me.

"No! Oh no, no, no!"

He lets out a chuckle and he looks disbelievingly at me as he stood up.

His shoulders were moving in laughter and I feel my temper rising partly because I don't find this funny and partly because I feel insulted that the idea of sleeping with me seems to be such a farfetched concept for him.

"Oh yeah? Then why did you take off my clothes? Why did you sleep here? You know what the worst thing in the world is? It's a man who takes advantage of a drunk woman and then acting afterwards like nothing has happened!"

I lashed out.

"So?"

I tapped my foot impatiently as he remained silent and as I waited for his answer I watched him take a deep breath as if he was gathering all his patience before he replied to me.

" Lady, I don't even know why I'm here! It's been twice that I've helped you and twice that you've managed to throw that help back onto my face. First you accuse me of being a money grubber and now you're accusing me of being a woman violator?"

He fixed his steely gaze at me and I stepped back a little.

"Taking off your clothes – No- our clothes was a matter of survival. You threw up all over me not just once but twice and even after I cleaned you up, you were clinging on to me and begging me to stay and so I did just that!"

I felt my cheeks redden in embarrassment. Snippets of the scene that he was describing from last night suddenly came back to me but I have to preserve my dignity and so I rolled along with denial.

"Whe- When? - I don't remember -"

He walked up towards me and I instinctively backed up.

He kept on moving forward until I felt the wall pressing against my back.

He placed a hand on each side of my head, leaving me trapped and pinning me in his arms effectively and he was so close, I can feel the warmth of his skin as he hovered over me.

"Oh yes, you do. Your eyes tell me you do!"

He said in the sexiest voice and I lifted up my eyes to look at him and -

"APRIL KEPNER! You really must have gone crazy. Who is this?"

We turned our heads simultaneously to look at the doorway in surprise.

It was my mother.

She has finally decided to make an appearance and without thinking, the next words out of my mouth would forever change our lives.

"Mother, this is my boyfriend -"

I looked at the stranger questioningly.

"Jackson."

He mumbled as if in shock.

"-Jackson. We're in love and you cannot do anything about it. "

Karen Kepner almost fainted .

* * *

**_AUTHORS NOTE:_**

**_Apologies for the grammatical errors as i have no beta reader and English is not my first language._**

**_How'd you like it so far? Reviews are love!_**


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